I wasn’t able to say this when joe’s blog came out. I didn’t know how hard taking care of a baby would be.

The Daang Matuwid 1.0 connected with people because we had 10 years of PGMA. 3++ years with Erap’s term and if you believe the Hello Garci controversy 6 years of FPJ’s term.

It connected because it had a very good example of what it would not be.

This explains Poe’s and Duterte’s strategy. What ails Metro Manilans the most? What ails each region the most.

Poe had a sizeable lead pre Duterte because she used what was most present in the minds of MM voters.

Duterte is also running against what people see. They see crimes committed because simple crimes in MM make the 8PM news. They feel unsafe because they know of people who are victims.

This is one of the reasons Mar is having such a hard time. People watch the news and they are less informed. People feel the growing pains of an economy slowly being unleashed and they lash out at this pain.

Mar is the only one running on a positive note and the media and people have been accustomed to be wary of such positive things. His message is met with bewilderment and oft times scorn.

But I am not saying anything new.

Do we abandon Daang Matuwid? NO.

Then what must be done? Recast Daang Matuwid to what even Mar calls Daang Matuwid 2.0.

How will this be done?

As Mar said Daang Matuwid is a set of values that when taken together leads to good government. That is no longer enough.

These set of values must be shown to lead to more things than good governance.

It must be shown that Daang Matuwid 2.0 leads to lower crime rates.
It must be shown that Daang Matuwid 2.0 leads to better job prospects.
It must be shown that Daang Matuwid 2.0 leads to lower prices.
…
etc.

Even then it would be an uphill battle. Why? because it is easier to pin ones hope to a newbie that has succeeded elsewhere ((il)Logic of voters)

May as well focus on TESDA and how it creates an escape valve from poverty. Focus on how Daang Matuwid allowed TESDA to grow into one of the most important achievements of this Administration.

Emphasize the military stuff that has been bought the past 6 years.

Emphasize how Daang Matuwid is the only one that is facing China head on while every other candidate is a coward wanting appeasement.

(K-12 is a hard sell because people just see the extra two years. You can sell this in a targeted way in FB and other social media sites.

If something requires nuance then sell it in a targeted way and have your keyboard warriors on standby to craft the message.)

Well, Papa, congratulations on the newborn, and welcome to the exhaustion that becomes every diligent father’s due. I assure you that on the balance sheet of fatherhood, it all works out properly so that the joys emerge, just the way Will would write them.

Congrats, giancarloangulo. I guess having a new baby sharpens some more an already sharp mind. Those proposals of yours if done properly by the camp of Mar Roxas could really boost his chances of winning the election.

I still think pre-law is a good program that can happen under the humanities track (HUMSS), but maybe repackaged to invoke the ideals of leadership—– Leadership track (me, sonny and karl were talking about the lack of military/leadership schools in the Philippines).

This TESDA program, is this separate, or can some aspects of this program aligned with the STEM track of 11/12th grades? ie., Remember the Maker libraries and groups we talked about awhile back? if TESDA/STEM are hands-on programs, consolidate them, is what I’m saying. Is this feasible?

And if we re-tool pre-law (from ACLU article) to Leadership, then we can tack on entrepreneurship with it, ie. you gotta know the laws to thrive in business, and be a leader to make things happen in business, so the 11/12th grade ABM and HUMSS tracks can be consolidated with Bam Aquino’s Negosyo Centers.

I think a feisty Mar is good. This back and forth dares and challenges between Mar and Duterte might seem childish to some but both candidates get to hug the news. I see a Trump-like strategy. Mar can show he can be also tough in his own way while criticizing his opponent at the same time. Slowly, he can carry the discussion to national issues, where he is strong in that department.

I remember the first Obama vs Romney debate wherein Obama was always on the defensive and didn’t attack Romney. Obama was perceived to be weak and was criticized heavily for his performance. On the second debate, Obama came out swinging and prepared and gained survey points. If this is normal human psychology at work among voters worldwide, Mar could benefit from it also.

Agree. Plus, Roxas swings with his feet planted on the canvas, a reputation for earnest work, whereas Duterte (and others) are slipping and sliding when they comment. It shows desperation rather than competence. Roxas wins every time.

I think now is the time to bring Korina into the fray. A bit of jabs that will show her love for Mar will bring him closer to the D-E segments. Korina is a more popular with the masa than Mar Roxas. She needs to help him.

The problem is that she is a bit polarizing among the fence-sitters. It would be a calculated risk. I suspect he has some cards up his sleeve, but Korina is not one of the cards. He wants to remain the candidate, much as Leni Robredo wants to run, apart from the reputation of Jesse. Korina blurs or muddies the picture.

I hope the Roxas camp would tweak the Mr. Palengke concept of their 2004 campaign ad to reach the Filipino masses in this presidential campaign. Mar connected with the masses before, I believe he can do it again. I also like the idea in the Ronald Reagan ad (Its morning in america again) a member here posted a few articles ago. It was simple and easy for the viewer to understand, with an appeal for continuity and improvement for the gains already made.

I agree with Joeam on the FastForward music video. I think it is a good video. It appeals to the hip young generation. That ad targeted that segment. I hope it also appeals to the masses but I doubt it. A different ad is needed for that segment of the population. The FastForward video may have been heavily criticized by netizens but if we sit back for a moment and think about it, as of this writing, it has already garnered 600,000 views and rising. After that video, a Duterte music video appeared among others. Looks like the competition or their supporters got worried and immediately put up their own. News papers are covering the FastForward video, some like it, some don’t. Even if they are criticizing it, they are talking about it. Many becomes curious and watch the video. The objective is done and the message is delivered. One actor, Ramon Bautista was also criticized but it became an opportunity for him to list the contributions of Mar as a reply to his detractors. His list was long and even if you don’t like Mar, it would force you think for a moment. A seed of thought is planted. It could be part of the harvest in next year’s elections.

Youtube/Facebook and other social media are cheap and effective medium of disseminating information to the voters. It looks like the Roxas camp understands this by their FastForward music video opening salvo.

The media and some netizens maybe bias against Mar, but as I see it, the recent ads and actions of Mar are forcing the media to cover him. I think Mar is correctly taking advantage of the situation by injecting snippets of the need to discuss platforms of government. In the Roxas camp’s next ads or youtube videos, I hope they can clearly tie the contributions of Mar to the public, which I believe are not very well known like the cheaper medicines, exemptions from taxes of minimum wage workers and the growth of the BPO industry, among others. I remember the Enrile campaign a few years ago where the ads focused on his attacks on power companies overcharging customers. He presented himself as a protector of the consumer and to my dismay, the voting public voted him back to the senate. I remember some friends justifying their vote for Enrile because of that ad.

No taxes on minimum wages, philhealth coverage, free or cheap government hospital care, jobs, and cheap medicines are areas that the masses relate to in their day to day lives because these things are on the top of their main concerns, unlike the middle class and elites. I have friends who have benefited from Mar’s programs but have no clue that these are the fruits of Mar’s hard work and that of the present administration’s. I myself only realized Mar’s programs after I watched DZMM’s coverage of presidential candidates wherein he was the first guest.

Just saying I used to admire your write ups but when you introduce Mar Roxas as something as vague as I have directly observed here in Philippines as a BPO employee, my view on guys change 360 degrees. Padding information in his background is already an open minder. But for me it started when how he dealt Yolanda situation. That was just one of the many typhoons that usually crossed Philippines but given though that was the biggest and strongest. He was not humane in handling the situation and it lead me to question in his candidacy as a president.
But still thank you for your wonderful write ups and informative discussion.

How was he not humane? He lambasted the supposed first responder Mayor fior being away,when there was already a warning that his province would be hit,How could he be prepaired when he was not there.he acted as too late the hero and he was fast in passing the buck to the national government.

Puso mo Karl! Kalamayin mo muna.
Another victim of an unjust social media.

@Justalurker, I suggest you view or watch the complete and the unedited version of the encounter between Mar and the mayor of Tacloban. If you do not become exasperated after watching the clip, then I do not know what will exasperate you.
And think of the provinces hit by Yolanda, all of them cooperated with the National Government and all of them except Tacloban sustained minimal casualties.

“He was not humane.” What is the basis for this conclusion? I hope not that edited video enounter with the Mayor. If he were not humane, he would not have been in Tacloban the night the typhoon hit (Leyte Park Hotel) and would not have been on the ground early in the morning, going out when he was advised not to, to help move bodies and direct the clearing of the airport for relief. I really dislike misrepresentation of good people with remarks that are actually cruel.

The “bahala kayp sa buhay ninyo” statement was directed at the Romualdezes who neglected their own people and then were not cooperative in making way for the national government to help them. It is being misconstrued by the anti-Roxas camp as elitist and uncaring.

The worst spin some are putting on it is the COA report on some unliquidated Yolanda funds. The fact that some stuff has been done sloppily by whoever in a government apparatus that is in many places still very inefficient is being made into a story of Mar Roxas stealing money to fund his campaign. Total jumping to conclusions but that in combination with a statement taken out of context forms a piece of black propaganda that fuels anger which blocks all reason… 😦

Correct me if I’m wrong, but one of the first things that Romualdez did after Yolanda was to hitch a plane out of there. I remember watching him grant interviews to CNN (while in Manila!), milking his air time for all it was worth.

But because it’s easy and convenient, let’s just dump all the blame on Mar Roxas.

It all looks a bit strange to me from abroad and having been away so long… when I tuned back into Philippine events due to Mamasapano, my first reflexes where to follow long-held prejudices.

These prejudices come from the social groups in the Philippines that descend from colonialism and from the politics of the country over decades… different social groups have certain ways of talking and acting that other groups associate with certain attitudes… nobody is totally free of it.

But having now gotten a clearer picture of things, I ask myself what the hell is this all still about? Cory still had a very pronounced upper class, Americanized attitude, very far from the people. Noynoy is nearly as “baduy”, meaning normal Filipino, as everybody else. He speaks Tagalog and uses it in his speeches, something which would have been unthinkable for someone of his class many years ago. Of course each social group retains certain mannerisms, so some think when Mar speaks that he is “arrogant”, and some find Binay not only dark but also “vulgar” who knows.

Now it could be that Mar is really arrogant, and Binay just a poor dark guy whom everybody sees as a thief, just like cops in the US are more likely to suspect a black man. It could be that Duterte is just a typical Mindanao Visayan dealing in offhand sarcasm like many of them do, who knows.

Judging by prejudices will not go away that easily, isn’t fully gone in the US, and playing the victim and discrimination card is also not going to go away either. The Philippines seems to be still very fragmented, even if seen from outside, they all have become more similar than 30 years ago. Cory still was very much the pious Catholic housewife cum Americanized upper class woman, her son went against the Catholic church, yet still is judged and seen as a “hypocrite” by those who carry the class he comes from in mind. Who kissed the ring of the Pope, wasn’t it Binay?

I’m still intrigued by the academic background of Sen Mar Roxas. I gather that he graduated from the Ateneo High School and has an undergraduate Economics from the Wharton School of UPenn. I don’t know if he went to Wharton straight out of high school or there was a year or two at another school before Wharton. He spent 7 years as an investment banker after Economics school.

Ateneo High School, the Wharton School and Investment Banking, these institutions work off from a blueprint of academic excellence and a tradition of success.

Focus the Ateneo High School. The blueprint is the vaunted Jesuit educational system, it is a brand. It has a name: “Ratio Studiorum” (Method of Studies). In simplest terms it is the Jesuit cookie cutter for education. Anyone who goes to a Jesuit school will get a distinctive taste for this, colleges, high schools, grammar schools run by the Jesuits have this imprint, e.g. Rizal, Recto. The scholastic tradition goes back to 1599.

The Ateneo High School in Manila is no exception. For the exceptional student encountering this system, it is truly a test of steel on steel. I submit this must have been the case with Sen Mar and Pres PNoy and Manny Pangilinan. For Sen Mar to go through all three institutions, this fact does speak for many things about him. For me anyway.

Also what I suspect, Joe. Trump’s daughter did two years at Fordham before going to Wharton. I suspect not a few also do this to prepare for admission to Wharton. I would understand. Manny Pangilinan completed Economics at the Ateneo (cum laude) before going to Wharton Business school. Solita Monsod did a variation, I think.

Sen Mar impresses me more than another person I attached hope and a very positive future for the country, ex-Pres GMA going into tenure and Econ credentials. I was all wet with my skepticism of PNoy’s capability at the same start. I hope this time Sen Mar wins and proves me right. And as you said, Joe: “He has done a lot since he got his degree.”

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